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Summary of the impact

Research into reflective practice, the process by which reflection on
workplace actions generates
new insights into practice and thus enables reshaping of that practice,
has influenced both practice
and policy in vocational education and training (VET). Through an
innovative "fieldbook" it has
enhanced the working practices of VET practitioners across Europe. In
addition, this "fieldbook"
has helped to shape recommendations for improving quality assurance in VET
at European level — one
of the European Commission's current policy priorities in education,
training and lifelong
learning — which will ultimately feed into policy and practice
development.

Underpinning research

There is a well-established and on-going tradition at Worcester of
research into reflective practice.
This is demonstrated not least by the foundation in 2000 of the journal Reflective
Practice:
International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives by the University's
then Professor of Education,
Tony Ghaye (1978-2001) and by the continued contribution of Worcester
academic staff to
research in this area. For example, 12 articles written or co-written by
Worcester staff and research
students have appeared in Reflective Practice over the REF period.

This case study is built upon the research of Dr Phil Chambers
(1978-2007) and Brian Clarke
(1979-2008) into reflective practice in various educational settings, both
UK and international,
specifically Initial Teacher Education (References 1 & 2),
Vocational Education & Training (VET)
(Reference 6), and Adult Education (Reference 5). The
central focus of their research was on the
"lived experience" as a rich source of data for increasing understanding,
and the use of narrative or
"conversations" as a means of shaping this experience and enabling meaning
to be extracted
(References 3, 4 & 5). Chambers demonstrated that these
narratives could be analysed through
categorising and coding of content, identifying themes and ideas and
building of concepts, but as
much understanding emerged from the process of producing the narrative
itself as the analysis
(Reference 3).

The research emphasised the importance of risk taking and innovation in
practice and the
challenging of orthodoxies. Such creative approaches could often lead to
unanticipated outcomes
which were vital in shaping and changing practice. A funded project looked
explicitly at such
outcomes in an Initial Teacher Education context (Grant a).

Building on this earlier research, Worcester engaged in an EU-funded
collaborative project with
partner organisations from with Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Norway (Grant
b). This pilot project
focused on increasing the capabilities of teachers and trainers in
vocational education and training
(VET) by implementing "reflective practices" in their activities. The
project had three main
outcomes: (a) a state of the art review of reflective practice and
vocational education and training;
(b) the development of a conceptual framework within which VET
practitioners could operate; (c) a
"fieldbook" for practitioners to facilitate the process of reflection.
Chambers and Clarke were
primarily involved in producing the fieldbook, which brought together the
key themes of lived
experience, narrative and unanticipated outcomes (Reference 6).

The University is confident the research above meets the 2* quality
threshold. Reference 1 was
returned to UoA68 (Education) in RAE2001 as part of a submission rated 3b.
References 2, 3, 4
and 5 were assessed by independent review as 2* in preparation for
submission to RAE2008.
Reference 6 was the product of a European funded project which is
indicative of its excellence.

Details of the impact

The impact of the research has primarily emerged from the REFLECT project
(although as
highlighted above this project was the culmination of a body of earlier
research). The project was
designed to directly inform the practice of VET practitioners through the
fieldbook. The fieldbook
was produced in 5 languages (Bulgarian, Dutch, English, Italian and
Romanian). It was made open
access from the outset through the project website to ensure that it was
as widely used as possible
(Source A).

It has also had a wider influence on professional standards and
guidelines for training in VET:
specifically it was identified as one of a small number of good practice
projects by QALL (Quality
Assurance in Lifelong Learning), a project bringing together 15 Quality
Assurance (QA) agencies
across Europe which ran from 2010-13. The aims of this project were: to
highlight good practice in
the field; mainstream this practice; and provide recommendations for
development of QA in VET
and Adult Education to policy makers, social partners, stakeholders and
national authorities.

Quality assurance in VET and Adult Education is one of the European
Commission's current policy
priorities in education, training and lifelong learning. The QALL project
was one of five thematic
networks set up to increase the impact of innovative projects in the
sectoral lifelong learning
programmes run by the European Commission. It compiled a compendium of
good practice
projects funded through the European Commission's Leonardo da Vinci and
Grundtvig
programmes for the period 2003-2008. Out of the several hundred projects
funded over this period
just 39 are identified in the compendium (Source B). The compendium
identifies the specific
relevance of the project for QA, how it relates to the EQAVET (European
Quality Assurance in
Vocational Education and Training) Cycle — a common framework and tools
for EC member states
to improve, monitor and evaluate their quality assurance policies and
practices in VET — and the
potential for disseminating the project outcomes to other sectors. In its
overview of the REFLECT
project (Source C), it highlights:

the value of the fieldbook in the QA process as "an evaluation tool
which involves thinking
about and critically analysing one's actions with the goal of improving
one's professional
practice";

emphasises its relevance to the evaluation and review stages of the
EQAVET Cycle;

identifies it as setting out good practice for developing
facilitators' work.

The REFLECT project is also highlighted in the QALL Project report as
part of the section on Self-evaluation/self-assessment
(Source D).

In 2013, the QALL project published 10 recommendations derived from the
good practice projects
in the compendium (Source E). These recommendations addressed both
implementation issues
(aimed at practitioners and providers of VET and Adult education) and
policy issues (aimed at
European and national agencies and policy makers). The importance of
reflective practice (and
associated self-evaluation) is highlighted in a number of the 10
recommendations:

Under the heading "Quality Culture" recommendations include:

Instil QA and evaluation into the daily practice of VET and AE
professionals;
promote collaboration and reflective practice.

Enhance reflective practices using a (self-)evaluation culture and
peer review
methodologies as a central tool.

Under the heading "Methodologies" recommendations include:

Use bottom-up self-evaluation as an important element of quality
culture; raise
awareness for its benefits and do not restrict it to a bureaucratic
procedure for
compliance with formal requirements.

These recommendations have been widely circulated by the project team and
are intended to feed
into QA policy at the European level.